Thanks to the blizzard that swept through the region on Friday and Saturday, there wound up being just three games over the weekend, plus the Beanpot on Monday. Combine that with a busy week for me, and these power rankings are a little shorter than usual. I promise I’ll make up for it next week.

1. Boston College (17-7-2, 12-6-1 HE) — Last week: 1
The Eagles won their fourth straight Beanpot on Monday, beating Northeastern 6-3. With the win, BC’s seniors became the first class in program history to collect four Beanpot titles. Johnny Gaudreau had two goals and an assist in the game, while Steven Whitney had a goal and two assists. The Eagles now have a three-game winning streak.

2. New Hampshire (16-7-3, 11-6-2 HE) — Last week: 2
The Wildcats tied Providence 3-3 on Sunday, pulling within one point of first-place BC in the process. Scott Pavelski scored the tying goal with 3:26 left in the third, while Grayson Downing and Maxim Gaudreault each had two points. UNH gave up two power-play goals in the game, marking just the seventh and eighth they’ve allowed all season.

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BOSTON — Boston College defeated Northeastern, 6-3, on Monday night to win the 61st Beanpot championship. The victory gave BC its 18th title and fourth in a row.

After a scoreless first period, BC scored twice in 1 minute, 15 seconds in the second period to establish a 2-0 lead. The goals came from Bill Arnold and Johnny Gaudreau. Kevin Roy halved the lead at 15:04 of the period, but the Eagles struck twice more before the end of the period and carried a 4-1 advantage into the third.

Roy scored his second of the game — fifth of the tournament — 11 seconds into the third and Braden Pimm redirected a Vinny Saponari shot past Parker Milner 2:45 later to make it 4-3. The Huskies created several scoring chances on Milner, but they failed to tie the game. Gaudreau’s second of the game at 14:37 of the third gave the Eagles a 5-3 lead, and Pat Mullane’s empty-net goal sealed the 6-3 win with 1:28 remaining the game.

Mullane, the Eagles’ captain, heads a senior class that became the first at BC to win a Beanpot all four years. Roy picked up the tournament’s MVP award despite playing on the losing team. He scored three goals in NU’s 3-2 win over Boston University last Monday to go along with the two he managed against BC.

What I Saw

• Three of BC’s second-period goals resulted directly from Northeastern defensive mistakes. The Eagles thrive on pressuring the puck at all times. Whether on the penalty kill, forechecking or fighting for a tying goal late in the game, BC’s forwards never make it easy for the opposition. Northeastern navigated the waves of forwards effectively for the most part. The Huskies’ few mistakes, however, quickly turned into goals. On BC’s first goal, Mike Gunn in a race for a puck, which left him out of position. A similar lapse from Cody Ferriero cost NU on the Eagles’ third goal. The Huskies didn’t make too many defensive mistakes on Monday night. Then, BC doesn’t need many to capitalize. (more…)

Only three series were completed this weekend as snow caused games throughout the Northeast to be postponed. The rest of the games are being played today and tomorrow. And with just three weeks left, every team knows exactly what they need to do. The games to be played include Bentley at UConn (Monday), Sacred Heart at Holy Cross (Tuesday), and Holy Cross at Sacred Heart (Feb. 19). Army at AIC still has no makeup date announced. (more…)

It was certainly an exciting weekend in the WCHA, as all 12 teams were in action. The top three and bottom three teams in my rankings stay where they were, but the six teams in between are all on the move. A split between the top two teams allowed North Dakota to gain a little ground, while the two Mavericks both made big moves — just in opposite directions.

1. Minnesota (19-5-4, 11-5-4 WCHA) — Last week: 1
The Gophers split with St. Cloud, so nothing changes at the top. Erik Haula scored twice in Friday’s 4-2 win, then tallied two assists in Saturday’s 4-3 loss. He has points in 19 of his last 20 games and is now tied for first in the WCHA and fourth in the country with 1.40 points per game. Adam Wilcox gave up four goals on 21 shots Saturday, marking just the fourth time this season he’s allowed four goals in a game.

2. St. Cloud State (18-11-1, 15-6-1 WCHA) — Last week: 2
Friday’s loss to Minnesota ended a six-game unbeaten streak for the Huskies, but they bounced back to win on Saturday. Drew LeBlanc scored two goals in the series, including what proved to be the game-winner on Saturday. He now has 40 points on the season, tying him for second in the league. Ryan Faragher surrendered seven goals on the weekend, but he also faced a ton of shots — 81 to be exact.

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Durham, NH – UNH came out flying in the early going, running out to a 17-6 shot on goal advantage in the first period. But it was Providence College that took a 1-0 lead into the intermission on a power-play goal by John Gilmour at 13 minutes, 27 seconds of the period. UNH would score at 14:52 of the second period to send the game to the third period knotted at one. UNH wasted no time in the third period taking an early 2-1 lead on a goal by Dan Correale at 30 seconds of the period, but PC would respond 5 minutes later on the power-play to tie the game at two, again.

Providence would take advantage of a power-play midway through the third to take a 3-2 lead. That goal was scored by freshman Nick Saracino and was his second of the game. Scott Pavelski would score a late tying goal as UNH and Providence would hold on for the three all tie. The tie puts UNH one point behind Boston College for first in the Hockey East standings, while it puts PC in a tie with Boston University for the final home playoff spot. The tie did little to move UNH in the Pairwise rankings, as they still sit in fifth place. (more…)

As the finish line to the regular season begins to come into focus, so does the race for the MacNaughton Cup. Five teams are within five points of the WCHA lead, currently held by St. Cloud State, with many of those schools still having to play one another.

After the break,the effect of outdoor games in the conference race,  a fan in Bemidji wears a bag on his head and Minnesota-Duluth sees their chances of home ice slip away.

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We’re coming down to the last few weeks of the regular season and things are just getting heated up. Teams had a chance to separate themselves from the pack this past weekend but only Niagara was able to extend it’s lead and all but seal their first Atlantic Hockey regular season title. Just seven points separate second place from tenth place. It should be another exciting finish to the Atlantic Hockey season.

1. Niagara – The Purple Eagles are without a doubt the best in Atlantic Hockey. They’ve only lost once in league play and are getting national attention. The Purple Eagles are ranked 15th in the USCHO poll, but more importantly are ninth in the PairWise. The face rival Canisius tonight and Saturday.

2.  Mercyhurst – The Lakers have clawed their way back to where we thought they would be at the beginning of the season. They have points in four straight games and sit in second place. It’s probably the highest the Lakers will climb as Niagara looks poised to claim to the regular season title. The Lakers host Air Force, who trail the Lakers by just three points, for two games this weekend. (more…)

The first Beanpot Monday is behind us, which means we are about one week away from the stretch run. The standings have done nothing but tighten up over the last few weeks, as Boston College, Boston University and New Hampshire have struggled for consistency. Interesting to note since coming back from break the top three have combined to go 13-15-3, while Maine (who was in last place) has gone 6-3-3 in that same time frame. The top six are now separated by a mere seven points and the fight for home-ice is going to be an interesting battle to the end, but I guess so will the fight for the regular season title.

At press time, there is a huge storm figuring to wreck havoc on the Friday Contests, so please check ahead before you head out to your local rink and of course please be safe. I am going to go ahead and preview the games as if all the games were going to happen as scheduled, but at this time that is seriously doubtful. I will post another blog later if any games are postponed, as the information becomes available. CHN will keep you up to date. (more…)

Is it possible that Hockey East will only send two teams to the NCAA tournament this year? It’s something that has only happened once in the last 14 years. BC and UNH still look like safe bets, but no one else is any better than a bubble team right now. Lowell dropped out of the top 16 in the Pairwise over the weekend. Merrimack and Providence are being held back by poor non-conference records. BU is still in the top 16, but given the way the Terriers have been playing, you have to wonder how much longer that will last.

My gut feeling is that at least one of those bubble teams will make it. If the Terriers can get back to playing at least close to the level they played at during the first semester, they have a pretty easy schedule that should help them save face. The River Hawks play all Teams Under Consideration the rest of the way, so they can definitely move up if they get hot. The Warriors and Friars have the steepest climb, both because they need the most wins and because they have pretty tough schedules.

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Another interesting weekend in the ECAC and again Quinnipiac remained undefeated in conference play. The Bobcats defeated Yale 6-2 on Saturday to further solidify their hold on the standings. It’s not what’s going on at the top that is intriguing, but its what is happening in the middle that is interesting. A mere three points separate positions three to ten. Union and Dartmouth are tied for third place, while five teams sit in a tie for sixth.

Rensselaer, St. Lawrence and Brown are trending upwards, while Dartmouth and Cornell have trended down in recent weeks. If the season ended today, Quinnipiac would be the number one seed in the NCAA tournament according to the Pairwise, while Yale and Dartmouth would join them in the tournament. The latter is right on the bubble, while Colgate and Union sit on the wrong side of that bubble just out of the tournament. All around interesting stuff going on within the conference as so much parity is reigning supreme.
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